Wild rally to beat Blackhawks 6-5 in shootout

Jan 10, 2010 - 4:54 AM

ST. PAUL, Minn.(AP) -- Trailing by four after 40 minutes, the
Minnesota Wild heard the boos from their home fans. Four goals
and a shootout later, the comeback was complete, and the cheers
were deafening.

Mikko Koivu and Owen Nolan scored in the shootout after
Minnesota scored four in the third period, and the Wild beat the
Chicago Blackhawks 6-5 on Saturday night.

With less than 14 minutes left in regulation, the Wild got goals
from Kim Johnsson, Mikko Koivu, Marek Zidlicky and Guillaume
Latendresse to send the game to overtime.

"The first 40 minutes we watched them skate and watched them
play," said Wild coach Todd Richards. "We had a couple
opportunities. But the last 20 minutes was great. The crowd and
the atmosphere was unbelievable."

Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Toews, Kris Versteeg, Troy Brouwer and
Marian Hossa scored in regulation for Chicago, which had
surrendered just 27 third-period goals all season before
Saturday. The Blackhawks snapped a five-game winning streak.

The Wild scored three goals in a 2:05 span early in the third to
pull within a goal, igniting their largest home crowd of the
season before Latendresse tied it with 1:33 to play.

"We had to find a way to kill off the momentum and we didn't do
that," said Toews. "So they just kept going off it right into
the shootout, and that's what happens. It's unfortunate, but
we'll learn from it."

The Blackhawks struck quickly, getting on the board just 82
seconds into the game when Sharp buried Chicago's second shot on
goal. Brian Campbell's rink-wide pass set up the play, as Sharp
got his team-leading 15th goal.

Minnesota answered later on a similar play, with Martin Havlat
feeding a crossing pass to Latendresse, who tied the game 1-all.
The assist by Havlat, who led the Blackhawks in scoring last
season before signing with Minnesota as a free agent over the
summer, extended his season-high point streak to seven games.

Toews and Versteeg scored later in the first period to put
Chicago up 3-1, and the Blackhawks got a power play goal by
Brouwer and a shorthanded goal by Hossa to open a seemingly-safe
lead.

But things got closer, and louder, in the third. Johnsson
chipped in a goal for Minnesota, then Koivu scored just 45
seconds later.

"When we scored a goal, it changed the momentum," said
Latendresse, who now has nine goals since coming to Minnesota in
a trade from Montreal on Nov. 23. "Our legs came back,
everything came back and things went well at the end."

Dustin Byfuglien was sent to the penalty box for high-sticking
on the next shift, and Zidlicky blasted a long shot on the power
play that sailed under Chicago goalie Cristobal Huet to make it
5-4.

"Certainly we did a lot of good things up to that point,"
Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "It wasn't like we gave
them a ton of chances in the third. It's a tough loss. We had
four chances in the shootout to end it. We left a big point on
the table, that we can't let go. But it's a good lesson."

Minnesota goaltender Niklas Backstrom, needing one win to become
the Wild's all-time leader, instead had his roughest outing of
the season, giving up five goals for the first time since an
overtime loss to San Jose on March 10, 2009. He had seven saves
in the first two periods but was replaced by Josh Harding for
the final 25 minutes and the shootout. Harding finished with 13
saves, and stopped seven of eight shots in the shootout.

"Sometimes it's a lot easier coming off the bench," said
Harding. "When you're down by that much, there's not really a
lot of pressure. You just go out there and have fun."

Huet finished with 16 saves for the Blackhawks, who play their
next two at home before embarking on a season-high eight-game
road trip.

NOTES: Chicago D Cam Barker was on the trip and participated in
the team's morning skate, but sat out his third consecutive game
with an upper body injury. ... Hossa's shorthanded breakaway
goal in the second period was the league-leading seventh
shorthanded goal by the Blackhawks this season. Minnesota has
now allowed a league-worst eight shorthanded goals. ...
Minnesota enforcer Derek Boogaard assisted on the Wild's second
goal, giving him three points for the season, and matching his
point total from 2008-09.